December 24, 2009. This 80-minute dharma talk in English given by Thich Nhat Hanh in Lower Hamlet, Plum Village. The recording begins with about 20-minutes of chanting followed by a holiday greeting and talk from Thay.

December 20, 2009. Upper Hamlet. Plum Village. 75-minutes. Dharma talk given in Vietnamese and this translation is provided by Sister Chan Khong.

Sound quality is poor and recording begins a little late, but it us still understandable. However, the first few minutes are spent with description and background on new meditation hall in Upper Hamlet. The hall is done after six months of construction.

Muni Sutta
Background: A translation in prose by an English author and a Vietnamese translation by Thay. Translations are from Sanskrit, Pali, and Chinese.

Muni is not a proper name; it means a serene monastic. The calm one. The silent one. A successful monastic. Free. The term existed already in Hinduism.

The purpose of this sutra is to answer the question put to the Buddha on what is a true muni.

Thay tells the story of the beginnings of the Lieu Quán Dharma Line, of which Thich Nhat Hanh is the 8th generation of this Vietnamese branch. Our lineage is also traced to through the Lâm Te Dyana School (Linji), of which Thich Nhat Hanh is the 42nd generation.

The talk begins with the gatha given to our main root teacher, Zen Master Lieu Quán (1670-1742), by Zen Master Tu Dung in Thuan Hóa, Vietnam in 1702.

All phenomena rely on Oneness, what does Oneness rely on?

Thay then traces all the teachers through the generations and how they each received their name from a gatha of Zen Master Lieu Quán. The classical Chinese characters of the gatha represent the name given to each of the generations.

The English translation of the gatha is as follows:

The great way of Reality,
Is our true nature’s pure ocean.
The source of Mind penetrates everywhere.
From the roots of virtue springs the practice of compassion.
Precepts, concentration and insight –
The nature and function of all three are one.
The fruit of transcendent wisdom,
Can be realized by being wonderfully together.
Maintain and transmit the wonderful principle,
In order to reveal the true teaching!
For the realization of True Emptiness to be possible,
Wisdom and Action must go together.

We took a slight detour by posting the December 6 (see Thich Nhat Hanh Speaks to World Leaders) talk first because it was important to hear that talk during the time of the world events. We now resume the dharma talks for the Winter Retreat on the topic of happiness.

This talk continues where we left off on November 29 (see This Moment is a Happy Moment) with the comparison of two versions of the Discourse on Happiness (or Sutra on Auspicious Sign). It begins with a scholarly discussion of early Buddhist history as it relates to the texts we are reviewing.

This is the second dharma talk of the 2009-2010 Winter Retreat taking place at Plum Village in France.

This talk begins a comparison of two versions of the Discourse on Happiness (or Sutra on Auspicious Sign). In our tradition, we use the Mahamangala Sutta, Sutta Nipata 2.4 translated from the Pali Canon. It is available in our Chanting from the Heart text. At the retreat, Thay has distributed another version from the Chinese Canon (Dhamapada 210-213). Thay also mentions Sarvastivada briefly.

As a reminder, suffering and happiness are deeply linked, like mud and the lotus.

This is the first dharma talk of the 2009-2010 Winter Retreat taking place at Plum Village in France. It is the fourth day of this annual 90-day retreat. The topic for the retreat is The Art of Happiness.

In this talk Thay begins our exploration of happiness by drawing a direct connection to suffering. It is linked to the practice with our feelings.